WWE News: WWE NXT Star Hideo Itami Finally Returns To In-Ring Action
WWE NXT star Hideo Itami has been out of action for a while, but he finally made his return to the ring at an NXT live event on Saturday. Riddick Moss, the man who accidentally hurt Itami months ago, had been hyping up the fact that the last time he was in Largo, Florida, he took out Hideo. This was true, as a botched move ended up hurting the Japanese Superstar. Itami would return to shut the mouth of Moss in a big way.
Itami did work the Japanese tour back in December, but it was not like he was working 30-minute singles matches at that time. Ever since that ended, he had been away from the ring. However, he was cleared to return for some time now. It is likely that WWE wanted to keep him safe so that he could work the NXT Takeover event in Orlando, Florida in a few weeks.
Hideo Itami is one of the top names in NXT but has had a bit of trouble since jumping to the WWE in 2014. He was one of the first guys from the major NXT names to actually perform on the main roster. Well before Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens would debut to challenge John Cena or before Finn Balor came in to prove his greatness, Hideo Itami was performing on WrestleMania 31.
He was part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal after winning an NXT tournament that allowed him to show he was the best of the best at the time. WWE had been pushing Hideo Itami huge at that time, and it was thought that an NXT Championship run was sure to come. A few months after his big moment being part of WrestleMania, he would be part of a triple threat match that had big stakes.
The triple threat match would determine the number one contender for the NXT Title, and it was speculated that Hideo Itami was going to go on to the Beast in the East WWE Network event and win the title from Kevin Owens. All of this would be live in front of the Japanese people, as the Network special took place there. Sadly, a shoulder injury took him out of the match, and Finn Balor got to not only win the number one contender match but win the NXT Title in Japan shortly after.
Obviously, Balor has ties to Japan too, as he worked for years in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. However, a Japanese man winning the NXT Title in Japan would have been terrific. Most thought we might get Hideo Itami back at the start of 2016. Sami Zayn went down to a similar injury and also needed surgery, and was reportedly going to make his way back to WWE around the same time. Zayn would return, but complications would keep Hideo Itami out for more time.
All in all, he missed about a year of action, so his return in 2016 was going to be big for his career as he might finally live up to the expectations people had for him, and he may even get to jump to the main roster. Sadly, the latest injury occurred. Now Hideo is back, and fans hope he can stay healthy now. Itami has all the skill in the world and may be one of the best overall wrestlers around. However, his injuries have plagued him since his arrival to WWE.
He most likely would have not only been NXT Champion by now, but he may also have had a nice role on the main roster too. If he can stay healthy, WWE may build him right back up to make him one of the top names of NXT and eventually, he could join the main roster to finally make an impact with some of the top guys in the WWE today. It is unknown what his role in NXT will be once he makes his official comeback, but one can imagine that he won’t stay out of the title picture for long.
[Featured Image by WWE]
